Monday, October 24, 2011

Where we are now.

Hope all is going well for those reading.  We’ve been busy the past few weeks, but things have been good, and we feel like things are finally moving forward.

We began our home study two weeks ago with our initial interview with the social worker.  Based on our first two meetings, we really like her and feel sure that she will do a great job in creating a fair assessment of our family to present to the immigration officials.  I just had my individual meeting with her (which lasted 2-1/2 hours, I might add).  Kimberly’s turn is next!  When it’s all completed (probably another month or two), we can file our I-600A to USCIS.  That will probably take a few months to process.

About a month ago, we received some information from a friend about a Christian orphanage in Guinea-Bissau, a Portuguese-speaking colony in West Africa.  We have since been in a contact with them and are excited about working with them.  Per Bissau-Guinean law, we cannot legally file anything in-country until June (when we celebrate our 5-year anniversary), but we can continue all the preliminary paperwork.  If all works out, their attorneys can begin the legal process as soon as we exchange our wooden gifts. =)

So based on that timeline (which, who knows what could happen between now and then…), we are looking at traveling sometime next fall!!  The total price will be somewhere around $15,000, and we have already raised almost a third of it.  (Kimberly will bring an update soon about the awesome Pampered Chef party we just had this past weekend.)

One great thing that is coming out of all the paperwork, questionnaires, and interviews is that we are facing many thought-provoking questions and topics.  Issues about family, race, parenting, health, discipline, and belonging that we haven’t really had to sit down and ponder.  It is leading us to all sorts of great books and resources as we try to form a Godly understanding of what all this means.  We can’t be so naïve to think that our lives will be a fairy-tale with no health concerns or attachment issues, and that life will continue as normal.  Our world will change (and is changing) quickly as our perspective grows beyond the microcosm of suburban America into a massive reshaping of what God means by loving the nations.

Here’s an encouraging word from our pastor:

Ten motivations for embracing the heart of God for the nations:
1. We are under divine mandate and commanded to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
2. Become familiar with the Joshua Project and the Mission to Unreached Peoples websites (www.joshuaproject.net and www.mup.org).
3. Pray specifically that God will enlarge your heart for the nations.
4. Read great biographies!
5. Read David Platt’s book Radical!
6. Pray through the Scriptures.
7. Pray through the Valley of Vision.
8. Ask the Lord how he would use you in the great task of going into all the world with the Gospel.
9. Adopt children!
10. Pray for revival and reformation.


Thank you so much for all your prayers and support—while it doesn’t necessarily take a village to raise a child, we are thankful for the body of Christ around us for being such an encouraging village!

To God be the glory,

Nathan (and fam)